Youth Hostel Missions: Connecting & Reconnecting

Jumping into a glacier lake in Interlaken, Switzerland.

I never could have imagined the true reality of this trip. I never could have predicted all the amazing people we would meet. I already have such an amazing team and I was satisfied just getting to know them.

Grindelwald, Swizterland was beyond words AMAZING. I’ve literally never seen anything that beautiful in my life. And I want to say I won’t see anything more beautiful again, but there’s still a lot left to see in the world (and I’m definitely not done exploring). We felt refreshed as soon as we arrived. There’s just something about those mountains that calms you. But to truly explain Grindelwald, I have to tell the whole story. As most of you know, I can’t short a story, so bear with me, this is a good one!

Grindelwald was the world of misconnections and reconnections. When we arrived we had one roommate from South Korea named Ahn. We decided to adopt him into our little nomadic family and began dragging him along on our adventures exploring and taking selfies (if you didn’t already know this, Koreans and other Asian cultures have perfected the art of selfies; Ahn had his own tripod which could be doubled for use as an extension for a selfie). He was a hilarious guy, always laughing and saying: “Really?! Ahhhh.” We worked through the language barrier and quickly became great friends. His plan the next day was to go up to the Jungfrau, so we agreed to meet him at the train station at 3 pm to hang out.

Our first full day, we decided to hike up towards First in the Swiss Alps, to a place called Bort. It was very near to our hostel and seemed like the easiest option. The hike definitely wasn’t EASY by any stretch of the imagination, but the views made it all worthwhile. On the way up the road to the hiking trail we passed a guy and politely said hey. He responded in an American accent and we quickly asked where he was from. There we met Adam from Chicago. Ends up he had been traveling alone and was just spending a full day in Switzerland. We chatted for a minute and decided maybe we would try to connect later in Interlaken (a city only a 30 minute train ride from Grindelwald). We got his Facebook info and went our separate ways fully expecting never to see him again.

Later on our way to Bort, Adam’s trail actually connected to ours and we found ourselves literally going in the same direction at the same crossroad. It was great to see him again! So we climbed together to Bort enjoying the views and sharing stories and snacks. Once to Bort we said our goodbyes again. He was going to continue heading up the mountain to First and we were going to head back down to meet up with Ahn. We hugged goodbye as though he was already a close friend, since it didn’t take long for him to mesh with our group. Again we spoke of meeting up later, but we didn’t have high expectations for it. We told him about a restaurant in Grindelwald called Memory where he could catch some free wifi and try to get in touch with us if he stayed in town. But the goodbye still felt like a real one.

We then began to hike down to Grindelwald to meet up with Ahn. It wasn’t as quick of a hike down as we expected. We still had an hour to hike, but it was 30 minutes until our 3 pm meeting time. We were worried with Ahn’s promptness, we might miss him. Billy and I began to jog ahead of the team. Once we made it down to the road and realized we were not going to make it anywhere near to on time, we stuck out our thumbs. Yes, we attempted to hitchhike. We wholeheartedly believed no one was going to stop, but it was worth a shot. Immediately a sweet old coupled pulled off and asked where we needed to go. We explained the situation about meeting at the train station and that we didn’t have much time. The husband even cleaned the back seat out for us to sit (keep in mind we were sweaty AND smelly at this point). The couple was from the capital of Switzerland and they were making a day trip to Grindelwald for the wife’s birthday – so they picked up a couple of hitch hikers on her birthday. Amazing people, truly. The husband was actually an aerospace engineer who had lived in Huntsville for a while working for NASA, so he even knew where Mobile was! Yes, I met a rocket scientist while hitchhiking in Switzerland… When we told him we only had 8 minutes to get to the train station, he proceeded to drive like a nascar driver through the tiny mountain streets. I’m not gonna lie, there were a few moments of terror on that short journey.

On our drive, we actually passed by Aubrie, Courtney and Alex. We told him those were our friends and he reversed so we could tell them what was going on (and why we were in some stranger’s vehicle). We told them we would meet them at the cafe we had planned on going with Ahn and sped off to the train station. We got there 10 minutes late and at exactly the same time Ahn ran up apologizing for being 10 minutes late. Perfect timing I would say. We tried to pay the old couple for their trouble, but they seemed more entertained and thankful for getting to drive us. I want to be like that someday.

Ahn, Billy and I began walking to the cafe, and lo and behold right as we walked up to it, there were Courtney, Aubrie and Alex walking up at the same time. At this point these connections were beginning to get eerie. After eating some amazing, fresh Swiss food, we headed to the hostel to see if we could get a hold of Adam and maybe visit Interlaken. As we were walking down the road and passing Memory, the restaurant with wifi we told Adam about, Adam was right in front of us exclaiming, “Boy am I glad to see you guys!” He was trying to find the restaurant to get in touch with us, and right before he even got there we appeared. Seriously, eerie. We bought groceries, took a rest at the hostel and then altogether, Ahn, Adam, and team: we headed to Interlaken. We jumped in a glacier lake, picnicked with a beautiful view at the paragliding landing park and took some outrageous selfies at the train station. All in all, had a blast.

We said our goodbyes to Adam, knowing that this would be the last time to see him on this side of the world, but we’re hopeful for the potential to reconnect with him in the states. And obviously we have some kind of luck on our side (but you know that’s God). Eerie as it may have seemed, God was doing a mighty work to get us where we needed to go and get us to the people we needed to see. In the morning, we said an early goodbye to Ahn, but we realized we would get to see him in Paris again and already made plans.

To add to the restful feelings in Switzerland, we had the surprise of Zach’s team showing up at the hostel in the afternoon. We had no idea our itineraries would cross, so it was a legitimately nice surprise. It was great to catch up, hug and hear about their adventures and connections. We shopped around, played fishbowl and surprised Ben for his birthday.

I couldn’t have planned a better time in Switzerland, and most of it was unplanned (such a beautiful mysterious thing). Even on our train to Frankfurt, we got redirected to Basel, which was not on our itinerary. When we got off the train to get on another, Ahn came running past us on his way to catch a train to Paris! WHAT?! Another random God moment, where a very big world became very small. We snapped a quick selfie (of course), and then went our separate ways to see him again in Paris. On the train to Amsterdam, I thought of the things that had already happened, and really couldn’t fathom it getting better. Would that even be possible? But every city and challenge and adventure brings it’s own uniqueness, character and wonderful people.

Since God is in control, I know there’s more to come. Sorry this is so very long, but I felt as though you had to experience the little bit of crazy to understand the massive shocking whole. Shock and awe is all I can say about this trip so far. The more I experience, the more I am impressed by God’s wonder. Now on to the next. We are verging on the halfway point and while that makes me sad, I know we were made to move forward. I pray that God will continue to surprise us and draw us near to His mighty will and plan throughout our days.

Blessings from this side,
Kristen

Youth Hostel Missions: Dreaming of Italy

Life is an adventure. Well, it’s an adventure if you make it one. We’ve learned that the hard way at some points. From being stuck in Atlanta to getting lost in Rome, there’s always a challenging situation waiting to be turned into an adventure. It’s all about attitude. If you get it in your head that nothing can truly stop you, then that will be the case. The moment you doubt is the moment you let life win.

God is always in control DESPITE us. It never ceases to amaze me, when I see Him working and moving and orchestrating. The people we meet, the places we go, all of it. All heading in some direction… The same direction. Paths may cross and people may end up landing on random islands in the middle of the Atlantic to become friends: maybe for the sole purpose of encouraging one another, but God is good like that. God loves us SO much that He would put random people in our way just to encourage. I guess, not so random after all.

Visiting the Vatican with our new Canadian friend Jeremie.

We miss Jeremie. Seriously, if this whole trip had been to meet and encourage him, God knows it would have been worth it. Jeremie was our first friend on this trip. He was in our hostel room in Rome traveling alone, because his girlfriend didn’t have the money to make the trip at the last minute. The plan was never to travel alone for him, so he was obliged when we dragged him along in our time in Rome. He was the 6th man we never had. We welcomed him into our family and he reciprocated with stories and jokes and serious moments. His last words to us were, “Thank you.” He thanked us for making his trip and Rome so enjoyable. We parted ways only wishing he could go with us. And we still miss him. We laughed, we got lost, we found our way together, we were in awe at the Sistine Chapel, we lived life: together. The day and a half we had with Jeremie felt like a lifetime (in a good way). Leaving on this trip, I imagined I would meet people, but I never thought I would make such dear friends. Our time with Jeremie isn’t over, it’s only just begun. I pray that God would continue to build that relationship even from a distance.

Rome was a beautiful, but busy place. So many people living and visiting, but SO much history. It was overwhelming. To come from a country only a couple hundred years old, and then to see things THOUSANDS of years old is quite the shocker. Rome will also make you realize the power God has in each of us. Michelangelo accounted nothing to himself in his work; he gave all glory to God. If you’ve ever seen the Sistine Chapel in person, you know exactly what he’s saying. It is impossible. Impossible in the way of man, but not when his hand is directed by God. If we could all be like Michelangelo… Take our greatest work and attribute it to the power of God. Remove the pride, remove yourself and all that will be left is God.

Florence was very “relaxed” compared to Rome. Some of the same beautiful history, but less hustle and bustle. This city taught me a little more about intentionality. We had very little time with our roommates or the people we met. We only had a day in Florence, but that doesn’t mean that god can’t accomplish the same things in a shorter amount of time. It just means that everything you do shouldn’t be an afterthought, it should be a forethought. It’s the thing where you remove your pride and your self and live in the moment. It’s not your time, it’s God’s time. The little conversations I had with our roommates turned into deep conversations about heartbreak and adoption with a few simple questions. You never know what people are going through until you ask, and you would be shocked at how many people just want someone to talk to.

If we only had 30 seconds with a person what are we gonna do? There’s always a choice to make: choose yourself or choose the other. Love God, love people. That’s what life is truly all about. Be intentional in everything. Now we are on our way to Switzerland… The view is breathtaking and my team is awesome. We are ready for whatever life may bring. We’re sure of adventures to come and challenges turned adventures to come. I pray that God will put people in our path and give us safe travels and energy for the days to come.

Until next time,
Kristen

Youth Hostel Missions: Team from day one

This photo marks our first day as a team. Yes, you might recommend me sleep or pack at this point, seeing as I am 15 or so hours from departure to Europe. But oftentimes our best thoughts dawn on us in these wee hours of the morning.

Youth Hostel Missions team announcement day in Nov.

My team is the best. Obviously I’m biased, but for good reason! These beautiful people became a family from the get go. From this moment in this conference room, they began their journey. And somehow with the many personalities and differences, they have loved. They have already sacrificed for one another and we haven’t even left the country. I never imagined having such a wonderful group of students to travel Europe with and I couldn’t be more proud and excited.

There is a lot of work still to be done. Sure: packing, flying, train going, and walking all included. But the kind of work I’m talking about is the kind that happens internally. Learning, experiencing, growing, and listening. There is all that to do. Let’s be real though, that isn’t truly “work,” that is ADVENTURE. I can even say I’m excited for the difficult times, because even those times will bring wisdom and insight to another future moment.

God is good. Can I get an AMEN?! Pause for response… But really, He is, and it’s a glorious privilege to serve Him. Our time in Europe is not to pack God in a bag and bring Him with us, it’s to shine a light on an already existing beautiful God. It’s to reveal hope to the searching heart. Now pardon me for a moment while I quote a song I wrote (no judgment please):

“We are trying to find our place, like a grain of sand, as it falls through the hourglass. Searching hearts will follow anything, if we promise truth, if we promise grace.”

This lyric was absolutely God-breathed. And it is the human heart. We have all been searching, sometimes still searching even when we’ve been offered the living water. We just want a place, love, and a little grace sprinkled on top. I hope my team embodies that “sprinkle of grace.” An ear to hear, a hand to help, a love to heal.

It’s time to go… Ok not literally, but at this point, there’s no turning back. Please pray for safe and smooth travels for our teams as they depart and continue to pray for the opportunities we will have in Europe to meet people and build relationships. This is the trip of a lifetime with the greatest team of my lifetime (no offense to all you other teams out there), and few words can really express my joy other than: I AM PUMPED. Thanks for reading and praying and being a part of our team stateside.

Much love,

Kristen